Birmingham Post

Sports Chiefs Throw Weight Behind Super Stadium

Cricket and athletics yesterday threw their weight behind Birmingham's proposed multi-sport arena which is expected to be called The City of Birmingham Stadium. As more details of one of the region's most ambitious projects are revealed by The Birmingham Post, officials at the English Cricket Board (ECB), UK Sport and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gave the city's bid for sporting glory their backing.

Whistleblower Reveals Aston Pride Scandals

Chief Reporter A former executive turned whistleblower has revealed how senior Birmingham City Council officials ignored his warnings about the serious failings of a pounds 55 million regeneration project. Robert Cope's experiences working for Aston Pride Partnership -a company with an eightfigure budget but which never set up a bank account and did not own a cheque book -cost him his job, drove him to ill health and the depths of depression.

Teacher Suspended in Bnp Election Row

A Solihull teacher standing as a European elections candidate for the British National Party has been suspended by his school. Simon Smith, who teaches maths at St Peter's Catholic School in Whitefields Road, was revealed yesterday as the BNP's second candidate for the West Midlands Euro constituency at the June 10 elections.

A Desire to Help Ends in a Fight for Compensation

Robert Cope was working for Derby City Council when he applied to become programme and finance manager for the Aston Pride New Deal For Communities project. The salary, pounds 31,000, wasn't great but he thought there would be a certain amount of job satisfaction in helping to bring employment and economic regeneration to one of the country's poorest inner city areas.

Robotic Cones Unveiled As the Future of Motorway Lane Management

Motorists may soon face the nightmarish vision of herds of animated traffic cones -like a brigade of vertically-challenged Daleks -closing down motorway lanes and exit routes. The self-propelled road markers are being developed in America to cut the cost of highway lane closures.

Coroner's Plea After Worker Crushed

A coroner yesterday called for better safety measures at plant hire firms after a contract cleaner was crushed to death. Father-of-two Paul Edwards, aged 38, from Bartley Green, Birmingham, was working to repair fire damage at a garage when the accident happened in November 2002.

Website Shame of Teacher Suspended in Bnp Row

Teacher Simon Smith and BNP election candidate ran an extremist website which described the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust as a 'lie' and claimed photographic evidence of Nazi gas chambers had been doctored. The Solihull maths teacher was suspended yesterday from his job at St Peter's Catholic School in Solihull after it emerged he was standing as a BNP candidate in June's Euro elections. His website, which was closed down a year ago, contained links to web-based editions of Hitle...

Two Jailed for Driving Car at Officer

Two men who were in a stolen car driven at a police officer as he tried to stop them have each been jailed for 15 months. Driver Martin Wynne and his passenger Stephen Baillie pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to assaulting Pc James Bennett causing him actual bodily harm.

Sikh to Back Bnp Ideals in Broadcast

An Asian lecturer from the Midlands is to speak in support of the BNP in its election broadcast, the far-right party claimed last night. The lecturer, who is said to be of Sikh origin, will express his concern over immigration policies and Islamic fundamentalism in Britain.

Leaders Want Faith and Loathing in Birmingham

Faith leaders across Birmingham are to call upon the public to nurture a 'loathing' of racism ahead of June's elections. Their resolution backs a decision by the heads of major churches across West Yorkshire who yesterday signed a joint statement deploring the policies of the BNP.

Lack of Qualified Recruits Is Cause of City's Social Services Crisis

The poor record of children's social services in Birmingham stems partly from a dire shortage of care workers wanting to work in the city, according to one of its directors. Alison Waller, head of social care and health for central Birmingham, blamed the department's no-star rating on dwindling applications from qualified staff.

Pensioner Tells of Her Unsung Heroes ; Happier Times: Toni-Ann with Father Bertram

While the case of Toni-Ann Byfield has thrust Birmingham social services into the spotlight for the wrong reasons, much of its work is unheralded publicly but invaluable for the people it serves. Among those who rely on the department is 76year-old widow Lillian Beasley.

Mother Demands Inquiry Into Killings

Toni-Ann Byfield was born in Jamaica to Roselyn Christine Richards. In June 2000, she was sent to live in Erdington, Birmingham, with family friend Marcia Ashley. Birmingham City Council placed her with foster parents in November 2002.

'Forgotten Gun' Owner Narrowly Avoids Jail

A 60-year-old Black Country managing director who kept a .38 revolver found in a load of aluminium delivered to his metal company yesterday escaped being sent to prison. Judge William Wood QC told Wolverhampton Crown Court that people with guns who failed to hand them in to police and under an amnesty had to know prison was the only outcome.

Care Boss Admits Toni-Ann Failures

Birmingham social services had no idea of the danger posed by the convicted drug dealer left to care for murdered schoolgirl Toni-Ann Byfield, the department's head confessed yesterday. Peter Hay, director of social care and health, admitted care staff had failed to check the extent of crack cocaine dealer Bertram Byfield's links with Yardie gangs and the criminal underworld.

New Gun Law Is Days Away

Gun owners have handed in more than 100 weapons to police in the West Midlands in the countdown to a law sentencing them to up to ten years in jail. From Saturday a gun owner who does not have a firearms certificate could be imprisoned for five to ten years.

Blunkett Urged to Take Action Over Replica Firearms

Home Secretary David Blunkett yesterday praised the 'spirit of Birmingham' as he met mothers of the victims of gun crime. The Home Secretary was speaking at a reception in the House of Commons to highlight the work of Midland anti-gun charity The Disarm Trust, based in Tipton, Sandwell. But the mother of a Birmingham man murdered four years ago said she was disappointed he had failed to announce firm measures to deal with the problem.

Beggar Guilty of Death Threats

An aggressive beggar who has harassed and intimidated people in Birmingham has been convicted of threatening to kill a police officer -from his prison cell. Curtis Braxton is serving a sentence of three years and nine months for breaking an anti-social behaviour order aimed at halting his begging. It was the first such order ever handed out in Britain.

Head Claims Boarders Dip Is Just a Blip

A fall in boarding pupils was described yesterday as a 'blip' by the headmaster of one of the Midlands' biggest independent schools. A slide of 1.4 per cent nationwide for this year was revealed by the Independent Schools Council, prompting some to claim the socalled 'Harry Potter effect' which had helped boost the popularity of boarding schools in recent years was over.

Police Hope Cd Will Get the Message Across

West Midlands Police has launched an interactive CD to educate youngsters about the effects of crime. Written by Pc Steve Cluney, the CD If only I'd known focuses on the experiences and stories of youths from the region who have been involved in street robbery.